She grinned. “We’ll take turns. You try to truth-tell me, then I’ll ask you a question.”
“Fine. I go first. Just let me get a grip on the node power.” I focused, pulling on the strand of power I had discovered that was somehow both pure white and highlighted in bright blue. No matter where I stood, that strand always seemed to come out of my back, tying me directly to the node.
The strand of power thickened, and I switched from watching it to Isa. “What is your name?”
She pressed her lips together and said nothing.
I released the power. “Damn it.”
She tapped a finger against her lip, completely unaware of how distracting such a simple motion could be. “Next time, hold the power a little longer. If you still don’t force me to talk, I’ll answer anyway a moment later to see if you are at least constraining what I can say at all.”
I pulled my thoughts back into line. I needed to focus on the words, not the lips forming them. “How will we know? There is already a truth-telling enchantment on the castle.”
“What have I told you about the truth?”
I sighed. “It’s not black and white. I still don’t understand what you hope to prove, though.”
Isa leaned forward. “You can call me Sofia.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I admit that is a useful way to sidestep my question and give an answer that isn’t technically a lie, but if I’m not forcing you to answer, can’t you still do that?”
She shook her head. “Not if you put enough power behind the truth-telling. Sofia can’t force me to answer, but she has enough power to make it so that if I choose to answer, I must answer the question asked. So, if you manage that, then we know you are pushing beyond the enchantment on the castle, even if you aren’t forcing me to answer.”
“All right. I believe it is your turn for a question now.”
She looked down at the journal in her lap. “How far is the node’s sphere of influence? It must extend for miles, so why don’t the Truths work beyond this hill?”
“Technically, that is two questions.”
She scowled at me.
I felt myself purring, almost soundlessly, once more. I had been a cat for over two months and not purred once. Now I saw Isa, and it happened automatically. “First question: The node’s power extends nearly all the way to Leort and well into the Gaboor Mountains. As for why the Truths only cover the hillside, the first duke limited their scope, purposefully keeping them from working throughout the node’s sphere of influence. According to his son’sjournal, Valois didn’t want to attract undue attention. After seeing what happened with a few of his first experiments, he made it so that no other Truths would work beyond castle grounds.”
When I had read about it, my first reaction had been to scoff that Valois thought limiting the Truths to the castle would prevent people from noticing what was happening at his home. Isa, naturally, noticed something entirely different.
“What Truths did he make that extend beyond the hill?”
“I already answered two questions. You don’t get a third yet.” Not that I could answer that question. It hadn’t even occurred to me to wonder. I had gotten too used to accepting the miracles performed by the node and not caring if it could do anything more.
“Fine. Your turn.”
I pulled on the magic tethering me to the node again. “What is your name?”
Isa said nothing. I continued to hold the magic, and after a moment, she nodded. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She fought to form her reply, her lips twisting as her will and the power warred to make her say different things. Finally, she snapped her jaw closed.
I released my hold on the node. “So, I am doing something.”
Isa nodded. “That was more powerful than Sofia. Once I tried to answer, it was very difficult to keep from saying anything. The words wanted to come out.”
“But you weren’t compelled to answer.”
“No.”
“That is still progress, I suppose. Your turn.”
She didn’t return to her questions about the Truths Valois had written. With another glance at her journal, she jumped onto a new topic entirely. “Who passed your Contract of Inheritance through the node?”
“I was the witness, so I passed it through the node myself. That’s one of the requirements in the contract.”
